


Five Times That Ned Stark Loved His Wife's Hair (And One That Might Have Been)

by MyOwnSuperintendent



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 04:37:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/961641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnSuperintendent/pseuds/MyOwnSuperintendent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the beginning of their marriage and through all the years that follow, Ned has always loved Catelyn's hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times That Ned Stark Loved His Wife's Hair (And One That Might Have Been)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own A Song of Ice and Fire or anything related to it. Hope you enjoy!

_One_

Ned had never been good with words at the best of times, and now, as they sat beside each other on the bed, clad only in their smallclothes, he was more unsure of what to say than ever.  He wondered what she was thinking.   Perhaps she was nervous about the consummation to come or disappointed that it was to be with him rather than with Brandon.  Perhaps she was simply resigned, prepared, like him, to do what they had to do.  He couldn’t know; he knew little of women in general and less still of Catelyn, the woman who was now his wife.

It was Catelyn who broke the silence, turning to him.  “My lord, I suppose we should…”  Her voice was strong enough, but she flushed as she spoke.

Wanting to make this easier for her—for both of them—and knowing that there was likely nothing that would make it entirely comfortable, Ned nodded quickly.  “Yes, my lady.  Might I touch you?”  She nodded back, moving closer to him on the bed, and he reached out to her.

He kissed her lightly, not sure of the proper way to proceed.  He wondered if she wanted or expected something more forceful, something indicative of a passion that he was almost certain neither of them felt.  Catelyn didn’t seem overwhelmed with desire, but she didn’t seem to mind what he was doing, at least.  She kissed him back, leaning in, and her hair fell forward around their faces.

Ned slid a hand through the red locks, almost to have something to hold on to.  They were soft under his fingers.  And he hadn’t given it much thought before, but the color was beautiful, shining brightly against her pale skin, not at all dimmed by the poor light in the chamber.  As she shifted in his arms, it brushed over his face, and he noticed the smell.  Something sweet.

“Your hair…”

He wasn’t sure that he had spoken aloud until Catelyn said, quietly, “Do you like it?”  Still unsure how to speak to her, he merely nodded and slipped his other hand into her hair.

Ned did not love Catelyn or even truly know her, but he ran his hands through her beautiful hair and kissed her with more desire than before.

 

_Two_

Catelyn still greeted him stiffly when he came to her chambers that night.  There was nothing to be done about it, of course.  He couldn’t very well tell her the truth about Lyanna and Rhaegar, and as long as she thought that Jon was his bastard she would think that he had dishonored her.  Ned couldn’t blame her for feeling that way; he had put her in a difficult position, he knew.  He had treated her in a way that he ought not to treat her, and she had the right to feel as she clearly did.  It certainly wasn’t as though she raged at him or refused to see him.  She was less than cordial, that was all, and when they lay together it felt entirely based in duty, without even the tentative warmth that he had felt from her at Riverrun. Perhaps he ought not to wish for or expect anything more, and yet he found himself wanting to do something that would make her less angry with him.  He was no romantic, and he knew that his marriage to Catelyn had had nothing to do with love.  They would be married for many years, though, gods willing, and she was the mother of his son.  He hoped that they could at least come to enjoy each other’s company.  He had very little idea, however, as to how he would go about making this happen.

Her expression as she moved to the bed, still clad in her shift and smallclothes, was so far from enthusiastic that he hesitated.  “I can go if you wish.”

Catelyn shook her head.  “No, my lord.  By all means, stay.”  Ned wondered, briefly, if she thought that he might father a bastard on some other woman if she refused him.  He wished that he could reassure her on that count, but he feared that it would lead to her questioning him, coming too close to secrets that he could not share.  Rather than saying anything, he simply removed his shirt and breeches and came to lie beside her. 

She was beautiful, his wife, he knew that much; she looked especially lovely now, with her breasts full from nursing Robb and her hair soft and loose around her face.  He began to kiss her, to touch her, hoping that he might somehow please her, that he might show her that he did desire and respect her.

Catelyn gave a little sigh as Ned kissed her neck and ran his fingers through her hair.  She helped him pull her shift over her head and even leaned into his touch as he cupped and stroked her breasts.  She never seemed to be actually displeased by his attentions, and for that Ned was glad, but he never had the sense that it had much to do with him: he was merely the husband that she happened to have.  Brandon would have pleased her, of course.  Brandon had had charms of which Ned could never dream, and between that and what she believed about Jon, perhaps Catelyn had no reason to find great pleasure in their marriage.  He wished, though, that she could feel even the simple pleasure that he felt in her when he thought of the son that they had made together or when, as now, he looked at and touched her.  He slid her smallclothes down her legs.

The hair between her thighs was as bright as that on her head and, Ned had often thought, as beautiful.  He had touched her there before with his hand, but he suddenly wanted to put his mouth there too, to find out whether that hair was sweet-smelling as well and to learn how she tasted.  It was not something that he knew much about, but it was something that he wanted to do, and he hoped that it might please her too.  He had been pressing kisses down Catelyn’s ribs, but he stopped then and looked up at her face.  “My lady…might I…might I try…”

“Try what, my lord?”

He found it somewhat difficult to get the words out, and he silently scolded himself for being so tongue-tied.   “Might I…put my mouth on you?”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he had expected, but Catelyn only looked confused.  “Put your mouth where?”

By now, Ned was half wishing that he had never begun.  But the other half of him was urging him to press on, was thinking about those curls of red hair.  “On…on your…between your legs.  If you would like.”  When he looked back at her face, he found her looking at him with more interest than he could remember seeing.

“I…yes,” she said quietly.  “You may.  If you wish to.”    

Asking her had seemed the most difficult part, but Ned  still wasn’t quite sure how to proceed.   Ought he to kiss her stomach first?  Her thighs?  Tentatively, he tried a kiss on the inside of her right thigh, and then another, and the hitch in Catelyn’s breath seemed to suggest that he was doing something right.  So he moved his mouth upwards, kissing gently, until there he was, with his mouth on the edge of her sex and the curls of hair brushing his face.

There was something wonderful about her scent, and Ned paused to breathe it in before pressing his lips and tongue against her sex.  He licked and kissed experimentally, trying to find a rhythm that would suit her.  He still wasn’t entirely sure of what he was doing, and he tried to listen to the noises that Catelyn made, seeking guidance from them as he buried his face in between her legs, in the feel and the scent of her hair and of her. 

“Oh…oh, please…”  The words came out on a moan, and Ned redoubled his efforts, licking at her sex, feeling her legs tensing around his head until she shook and cried out.  Her cry was wordless, but to Ned it sounded, at least a bit, of a desire that she had never before shown for him.

When he looked up at her, her face was flushed, and her eyes looked warm as he pulled her into his arms.  The warmth remained there later, after he had bedded her; she stayed in his arms, her head pressed against his shoulder and her hair falling over him. 

“Was I…did you think me wanton?  Before?”

Such thoughts had been the farthest thing from Ned’s mind: he had been thinking of her beauty and of how she tasted and of how he hoped that she could find at least some pleasure in his touch and of the look and smell and feel of the hair between her legs.  “Not in the least, my lady.”

Her smile was small, but it was a smile all the same.

 

_Three_

Ned had not liked seeing Catelyn in pain, but when he told her that afterwards, she smiled and told him that it might have been much worse.  “It was not so bad this time, Ned, truly.  It was much easier than with Robb, now that I knew what to expect.”  She leaned in and kissed his cheek.  “I am well, Ned.  And so is our daughter.”

“I thank the gods for it,” Ned said.  He kissed her in return and then took another look at the bundle in Catelyn’s arms.  Their babe.  Sansa, they had chosen to call her. 

She was tiny—Ned had never seen Robb when he was that small—but, as far as he was concerned, she was perfect.  Her eyes, big and blue like Catelyn’s, looked up at him peacefully; it was difficult to know much about someone who had been alive for less than an hour, but so far she seemed a quiet babe.  She had almost no hair as of yet, but the little that she did have showed that she took after her mother in that respect too.  As he watched, Catelyn laid her cheek against Sansa’s, and he was sure that it was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. 

“She looks so like you,” Ned said.  “She’s going to grow up to be a great beauty.”

Catelyn laughed.  “I hope so.  I already think she’s beautiful, though.”

“She is,” Ned said.  Catelyn held Sansa out to him then, and he took hold of her carefully.  Once she was settled in his arms, he ran one hand over the light fuzz of her hair.  Catelyn smiled, watching him, and they sat quietly for a few minutes, intent on their daughter.

Sansa began to fuss, her face wrinkling with discontent, and Catelyn said, “She must be hungry.”  She quickly unlaced the front of her shift and took Sansa back into her arms.  “Shh, shh, sweetling.  There you go.  There you go.”  Sansa settled against Catelyn’s chest and began to nurse, and the sight of the two of them together made Ned almost too happy for words.  Catelyn leaned over Sansa, her hair coming loose from its braid, and he was struck by how lucky he was to have her and their children.

“I am so proud of you, my love,” Ned said.  “You did so well earlier.  And she is truly…she is truly beautiful.”

His words made Catelyn smile, and she looked even lovelier then.  “Thank you, Ned,” she said.   “And thank you for staying with me.”  She leaned against him, and they were quiet again, watching Sansa nurse.

 

_Four_

Catelyn was in his arms the second they reached her chambers, and he kissed her and kissed her until they both had to surface for air.  “Gods, I’ve missed you,” he said, pressing her as close to him as the swell of her belly allowed.

“I’ve missed you too,” Catelyn said.  “So much, Ned…please…I need you to touch me…”  Ned was only too happy to comply.  As they moved to the bed, he thought briefly of his last homecoming from war and of the formal way that Catelyn had greeted him.  He decided that he greatly preferred this welcome, with Catelyn’s voice full of warmth and need.

They pulled at each other’s clothes now, Catelyn’s hands on the laces of his breeches and his on the laces of her gown.  And then she was naked on the bed beside him, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss every part of her.

“I thought of you all the time,” Ned said, kissing her full breasts.  “I thought of what you must be doing…of how you must look with our babe inside you…gods, Cat, I wanted you in my arms so much…”

“I thought of you too,” Catelyn gasped as he moved down her body, pressing his kisses against the curve of her belly.  “I missed— _oh_ —I missed being with you so much…there were times when I could barely sleep for wanting your touch…oh, please, Ned, I can’t wait any longer…”

The size of her belly might have presented a challenge, but they had made love when she was this far along with Sansa, and they knew what to do.  Ned settled behind her, pulling her flush against him, and the feelings of relief and pleasure when he entered her were almost more than he could bear. 

He kissed the back of Catelyn’s neck as they moved together, burying his face in her hair and breathing in its scent.  Somehow he felt even more home then, with the look and feel and smell of Catelyn all around him, enveloped in that red hair that he’d pictured so many times while he was away.  “Your hair is so beautiful,” he whispered.  “You are so beautiful, Cat.”  Catelyn moaned his name in response, and he moved a hand down to her sex, stroking her with his fingers until she came with another loud moan.  After he came as well, he continued to hold her closely in his arms, kissing her and running his hands over her belly.

“When do you think our babe will come, love?” he asked her.

Catelyn rolled to face him, smiling.  “Very soon.  I think the babe was just waiting for you to be home.  Like me.”

“Are you comfortable, Cat?” he asked.

“Very.”

She settled her head against his chest, and he stroked her hair until they both slept.

 

_Five_

Catelyn knew very well what she was doing.

It had been a long few days.  They had been busy with preparations for a visit from some of Winterfell’s bannermen, and getting chambers ready and the feast planned had taken up a great deal of time.  Furthermore, the children had been passing some ailment among them.  It was nothing serious—a summer cold—but it had been enough to make them irritable, and it certainly hadn’t lessened the load of tasks that week.  Things had finally settled down, though.  The feast tonight had gone off well, and their guests were all in bed; the children were in bed too, mostly over their sniffles.  And now Catelyn was sitting at her dressing table, slowly undoing each braid in her hair, brushing them out with painstaking strokes.

An outsider might have thought that she merely wanted to make sure that her hair was neat before she went to sleep, but Ned knew better.  She was teasing him.  She knew how much he loved her hair, how he loved to touch it when they lay together, how arousing he found the sight of her with it flowing around her face.  She also knew that the two of them had barely had a second to be alone together over the past few days.  And so here she was, doing what seemed to be a simple task, knowing that every minute that he watched her brushing her hair made him want her more.

He must have made some noise, for Catelyn turned around.  “Is there something wrong, my love?” she asked him, unable to keep the smile off her lips.

“You,” he told her, only half jokingly, “are a very wicked woman.”

She widened her eyes in pretended innocence.  “Me, my lord?  Why am I wicked?”

“You have been teasing me for far longer than I can be expected to bear,” he said.  “Have mercy, Cat.  Put the brush down and come to bed.”

Slowly, deliberately, Catelyn put the brush down, rose from her seat, and crossed the room.  She wrapped her arms around him, and he felt himself growing harder as she pressed her body against his and began to caress him.  “I’m sorry for teasing, Ned,” she said, her mouth against his ear, but her voice wasn’t the least bit contrite.

“You don’t sound very sorry,” he said.

“Oh, but I truly am,” Catelyn said.  “Shall I make it up to you?  Would you like that?”  The expression on her face promised wonderful things, and Ned could only nod.  “All right then.  Lie down on the bed, my love.  And take your clothes off.”

If Catelyn brushing her hair was erotic, Catelyn with her hair loose about her face and playfully ordering him about was something for which Ned barely had words.  He had already taken off his shirt, and he pulled off his breeches and smallclothes quickly, eager for Catelyn’s touch.  Catelyn slipped out of her shift and smallclothes as well, but when he reached out to touch her, she moved away from his hand, smiling at him.  “Lie back, Ned,” she said, “and I’ll come to you.” 

He ached to touch her, but he did as she said, and he thanked the gods that she did not make him wait any longer.  Instead she moved to straddle him.  Then, with another smile, she shook her hair forward over her shoulders and leaned in so that it brushed against his chest.

She bent to kiss him, murmuring, “I’ve missed you this week.”  Then she began to move down the bed, achingly slowly, her hair still thrown forward so that it trailed along his body as she moved.  There was a part of Ned that never wanted her to stop, and there was another part that very much wanted to get on with things. 

“Do you like this?” Catelyn asked softly.  She had moved lower down his legs by now, and her hair was brushing his stomach, far too close to his cock to allow him to think coherently.

“Please, Cat,” was all that he could say.

It was enough, though; his wife understood him well after twelve years, and she swept her head down in a smooth motion, letting her hair fall over his cock and his thighs, making him groan as she bent lower and placed a kiss on the tip of his cock.  Her mouth felt wonderful, but Ned knew that he likely wouldn’t last another minute if she went on this way.  So he reached for her, gasping, “Come here.”

She moved back up the bed and kissed him as he entered her, and her hair fell around them as they moved together.

 

 

_One_

Ned had noticed Catelyn frowning as she prepared for bed several times over the course of the month, but it took him some time to figure out the reason.

It seemed odd that he hadn’t noticed.  He knew that neither of them was as young as they had once been and that changes had come with age.  It had been six years since little Ben’s birth—he was no longer so little, really—and he was very likely to be their last child.  He could tell that Catelyn sometimes felt badly about this, and he did everything he could to show her that she had no reason to do so.  She had given him six children, each of them wonderful and healthy, and had come through every birth in good health herself: they were far luckier than most.  His time in King’s Landing had only made him more grateful than before for the home that he had in Winterfell, and he could think of nothing that would make him happier than being there with Catelyn and their children. 

Perhaps that was why he hadn’t noticed.  Catelyn was beautiful to him, no less so after they had been married for more than twenty years, and he was not inclined to find fault with her appearance.  But when he saw her frowning again as she brushed out her hair, when he heard her sigh as she gathered some of it between her fingers and stared into the mirror, he realized what was troubling her.  The strands that she had gathered were not the bright red that her hair had always been.  They were gray.

Ned wondered what he could say or do to cheer her.  Perhaps if he spoke about it, she would think that it made a difference to him, which it truly didn’t.  Yet he didn’t like to see her looking unhappy, and at last he decided that he had to do something. 

He came up beside her, and she moved aside on the seat, making room for him.  She leaned her cheek against his, without speaking, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.  “You are so beautiful, my Cat,” he told her. 

Even as she smiled at him, she shook her head.  “Not so much these days, I fear.”

“You are,” he insisted.  “Always.”   She still looked far from agreeing with him, and Ned wasn’t sure what to say.  He felt far more comfortable talking with Catelyn than he had when they had first met, but the right words still did not always come easily to him.  And so he simply said, “Come to bed, Cat.”

When they lay down beside each other, he pulled her close, stroking the mingled red and gray locks, breathing in the scent that was Catelyn and that never seemed to change.  “Your hair is so beautiful,” he told her.  “You know I’ve loved it as long as I’ve known you, Cat.”  Her face still looked anxious, and he made himself press on, determined to make sure that she knew that he cared not at all what color her hair was.  “Not just its color, love.  How soft it is…how sweet it smells…I shall always love your hair, Cat.”  He brushed a lock back from her face, and she smiled, a little, and leaned in to kiss him.  The brush of her lips against his was light, almost tentative, and Ned deepened the kiss, wanting to show her how much he desired her.  It seemed to work; when they moved apart, her cheeks were flushed, and she reached out to pull him more closely against her.  Ned smiled at that and kissed her again.

As age had brought changes to their bodies, it had brought changes to their lovemaking, but again Ned did not think the changes were anything that mattered.  Perhaps they moved more slowly than they once had, perhaps it took them longer to reach their pleasure, but these were no hardships for him: it meant that they might spend more time in each other’s arms, kissing and caressing and moving together.  As they shed what remained of their clothing now, he concentrated on Catelyn, touching her in the ways that he had learned from long experience that she liked, kissing all of her most sensitive places, whispering words that might heighten her pleasure.  “Beautiful,” he whispered as he kissed her breasts, as he stroked the hair that lay all around her, falling over the bed and over her shoulders.  “Gods, so beautiful, Cat…you are so beautiful, my love.”  He brushed his fingers over her sex and felt her tremble.  “Always so beautiful…gods, I want you, Cat.”

“Ned…oh, Ned, I want you too.”  Her hand was on his cock now, and he was growing harder with her touch, with the press of her body against his and the brush of her hair against his face.  A few more minutes of exploring each other with hands and mouths and they were both ready.  He entered her then, and they held each other tightly as they moved together.  The feeling of Catelyn’s fingers digging into his back only served to heighten Ned’s pleasure, and he gasped and kissed her.  Catelyn was the first to come, crying out her pleasure as her legs tightened around him.  He let himself follow, spilling inside her with a groan of “Cat” and enfolding her in his arms afterwards, her head against his shoulder.

Her hair was spread out over his chest, and he stroked it as he held her.  She was smiling now, looking much happier than she had earlier in the evening.  He believed that their lovemaking had reassured her that he still found her beautiful, and yet there was still a part of him that wondered if he ought to say something more to make certain that she understood his feelings.  Catelyn nestled closer to him then, her face turned to his, and he said quickly, quietly, “You shall always be beautiful to me, Cat.”

There was no lovelier sight than his Catelyn’s smile, no sweeter feeling than her kiss, no better state than drifting off to sleep together in her bed, with her body against his and her beautiful hair around them.


End file.
